Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: James C on November 18, 2011, 06:49:53 PM
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Old Guitar Day: In a fit of madness a couple of years ago i sold the best Les Paul i've played, a Japanese model made by "Signature". fast forward to july this year and i notice it (or its identical twin) on eBay, after much negotiating with my Fiancee I snagged it.
NPD - A little trip down to Croydon and a chat with Jonathan (Felineguitars), who is an absolute gent and is first point of call for any customs i get made, and i have a Painkiller Bridge and Cold Sweat neck combo.
I asked Tim for his advice to cover Iron Maiden (N.O.T.B to S.S.O.A.S.S) and also handle Alterbridge and Dream Theater and these nail those tones and the painkiller also sounds great with schenker style riffs.
As i wouldn't want to break Fernando's rules:
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/ManOnTheEdge1988/Signature1.jpg (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/ManOnTheEdge1988/Signature1.jpg)
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/ManOnTheEdge1988/Signature2.jpg (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/ManOnTheEdge1988/Signature2.jpg)
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Noice, looks really cool my friend
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I had me one of those - with Mules as well. I sold it. Not sure if I regret selling it though as I'm not a HB man.
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Nice one! :D I like the pickup colour scheme.
Signatures are really good guitars (although must admit I'm trying to sell mine at the moment, without success)
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Nice one! :D I like the pickup colour scheme.
Signatures are really good guitars (although must admit I'm trying to sell mine at the moment, without success)
If only i had the money Philly :(
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Was a pleasure to see you James, and also interesting to finally try out a Signature LP
It's a nice guitar and sure sounded good with the Painkiller and Cold Sweat pickups
I did swap the tone controls around to 50s wiring (easily swapped back if you ever feel the need) and the only last tweak you may enjoy is swapping the ceramic disc caps to some oil /paper ones - maybe a couple of the BKP/Jensen at some stage.
Glad you enjoyed popping over
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Thanks Jon, was neally nice to have a chat although i now have Egnater GAS :D
I'm not sure whether it's the 50's wiring or the new pickups but the controls certainly feel more responsive across the whole of their travel.
Eventually i'll get the tuners replaced for locking ones and the pots replaced for some of the BKP pots.
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I'm looking for a cheaper non-gibson les paul, are these Signature's any good? was thinking about a Tokai
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They are very good, I've not played Tokai's, but I've only played one Gibson that I preferred and that was one of the Plek'd models, but now Jon's set up this LP its much better.
As mentioned Philly Q has one for sale in seconds out
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Very nice guitar!
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I'm looking for a cheaper non-gibson les paul, are these Signature's any good? was thinking about a Tokai
I don't want to give you a sales pitch :wink: , but they really are very good - made at Fuji-gen Gakki, the same as some of the Orville by Gibson models and Japanese-market Epiphones including the Elitist models.
Two-piece body, thick solid maple top (with a quilt or flame veneer or more likely foto-flame), quality hardware. All they need's a pickup change.
I think the only reason they didn't sell was the lack of a recognised "name" on the headstock. And even then the name they did choose was a dumb one, because if you try to find them you have to wade through a load of artist signature guitars!
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They're superb Pete - very nice guitars for peanuts :)
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I don't know why Gibson/Epiphone don't just allow the MIJ Epi's go worldwide, they are fantastic guitars.
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How does it compare to the Gibson Studio you had PhillQ?
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......the name they did choose was a dumb one, because if you try to find them you have to wade through a load of artist signature guitars!
Dumb indeed. This frustrated me when I was looking at potentially buying another.
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How does it compare to the Gibson Studio you had PhillQ?
It's a little hard to directly compare in a sense, because the Studio had a chambered body so it was acoustically louder and responded a bit differently. And the Gibson pickups are definitely a bit better than the Gotohs(?) in the Signature.
But if you're familiar with Gibson LP Studios in general, the Signature has a slimmer (but not really skinny) neck and (although it's not particularly noticeable in photos) a slightly modified body shape. Unlike the Gibson, the Signature has a proper long-tenon neck joint.
In terms of overall workmanship, I think the MIJ guitars win every time, they're pretty much flawless (although to be fair, there was nothing much wrong with that particular Gibson - everything was in the right place!). Compared with other MIJ brands, I'd rank the Signature (and Epi Japan) models with the better Tokais and definitely ahead of Edwards.
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Thanks Jon, was neally nice to have a chat although i now have Egnater GAS :D
I'm not sure whether it's the 50's wiring or the new pickups but the controls certainly feel more responsive across the whole of their travel.
Eventually i'll get the tuners replaced for locking ones and the pots replaced for some of the BKP pots.
It'll be the 50's wiring IMO, although the pickups will sound good without it , it'll sure help with smooth taper in the vol and tone